Turbulence technology
04-01-2007, 06:03 AM
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Turbulence technology
Newscape
FAA Promotes Automated Aircraft Turbulence Reporting.
Sunday, Apri1 1, 2007, 14:23ET
By Robert Irusta, NS Science and Technology
Seaweed Extract to Make Flying Safer and More Comfortable
WASHINGTON /Newscape.01/ – The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it plans to endorse and accelerate the certification process for a new aircraft transponder technology that will give standardized, real-time depictions of the ride conditions that aircraft are experiencing. The new information with be available to both air traffic controllers on the ground and pilots in the air.
Hundreds of passengers and flight crewmembers are injured every year as a result of aircraft encounters with turbulence. Presently, the only tools available to pilots for turbulence avoidance are paper reports and forecasts that can be hours old, or a burdensome process of pilots requesting reports from other pilots through air traffic controllers on the ground. This common practice congests vital radio communication time, often during periods of peak usage, and is subject to the varied and subjective descriptions of the pilots and controllers themselves.
All commercial aircraft are currently equipped with a device known as a Mode S transponder. This device sends digital information pertaining to each specific aircraft which is depicted on air traffic controller’s screens. The new proposed technology is tentatively identified as the Mode T Transponder enhancement. It consists of placing a turbulence sensor onboard the aircraft along with a device known as a squitter, which would interpret the sensor’s readings and send the appropriate digital ride quality character piggybacked to the transponder’s traditional digital download.
“This is technology that we’ve been working on for some time”, said Jon Hollandaise, a researcher for Lincoln Labs, an affiliate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lincoln Labs is contracted with the FAA to develop and test new aerospace technology. “What we’ve always lacked was an onboard sensor that was accurate and cost effective. The gyros and accelerometers we’ve experimented with in the past were mechanically complicated and prohibitively expensive to deploy and maintain. The Intelli-gel™ sensor was the technological breakthrough that we needed.”
The Intelli-gel™ sensor consists of a sealed composite case the approximate size of a package of cigarettes. It contains a gelatinous compound whose two primary ingredients are a photo-florescent seaweed extract combined with a synthetic polymer commonly used as a suspension agent in industrial lubricants. The developers discovered that when the compound is connected to a low voltage electrical current stream, the electrical conductivity of the compound changes in precise and predictable ways if the module is disturbed or “bumped” in any axis and it does so in a manner that is also measurable by the intensity and even the frequency of the disruption.
“Once we were able to graph the conductivity behavior of the product in a variety of turbulent environments, it was very easy for us to write the program models to interpret the sensor data and display it digitally.” Mr. Hollandaise continued.
For the sake of simplicity and standardization, the device will depict three levels of turbulence intensity, being, light, moderate, and severe. A corresponding letter character will be depicted in green, yellow, or red on controller’s screens on the ground. The depiction will also display in aircraft cockpits on instruments that currently display other aircraft in the vicinity. All depictions will be standardized and in real time.
The module is unaffected by the pressure or temperature extremes of commercial airliners, and has no moving parts or degradation properties.
“The module will be inexpensive to mass produce, and will likely outlive every aircraft it is installed on.” The scientist added.
The Intelli-gel™ module was originally developed by a privately held pharmaceutical research institute in Malaysia. Upon certification by regulatory authorities, the proprietary technology is tentatively scheduled to become licensed in the United States to the Allied Signal division of Honeywell (NYSE:HON) and Europe’s Thales Group (ex Thomson-HO) for production and manufacturing.
The technology is also expected to have applications in the automotive and high-speed rail industries for adaptive suspension control technologies and other industrial and maritime uses.
Newscape// NYC cpx, Apr. 01 2007
FAA Promotes Automated Aircraft Turbulence Reporting.
Sunday, Apri1 1, 2007, 14:23ET
By Robert Irusta, NS Science and Technology
Seaweed Extract to Make Flying Safer and More Comfortable
WASHINGTON /Newscape.01/ – The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it plans to endorse and accelerate the certification process for a new aircraft transponder technology that will give standardized, real-time depictions of the ride conditions that aircraft are experiencing. The new information with be available to both air traffic controllers on the ground and pilots in the air.
Hundreds of passengers and flight crewmembers are injured every year as a result of aircraft encounters with turbulence. Presently, the only tools available to pilots for turbulence avoidance are paper reports and forecasts that can be hours old, or a burdensome process of pilots requesting reports from other pilots through air traffic controllers on the ground. This common practice congests vital radio communication time, often during periods of peak usage, and is subject to the varied and subjective descriptions of the pilots and controllers themselves.
All commercial aircraft are currently equipped with a device known as a Mode S transponder. This device sends digital information pertaining to each specific aircraft which is depicted on air traffic controller’s screens. The new proposed technology is tentatively identified as the Mode T Transponder enhancement. It consists of placing a turbulence sensor onboard the aircraft along with a device known as a squitter, which would interpret the sensor’s readings and send the appropriate digital ride quality character piggybacked to the transponder’s traditional digital download.
“This is technology that we’ve been working on for some time”, said Jon Hollandaise, a researcher for Lincoln Labs, an affiliate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lincoln Labs is contracted with the FAA to develop and test new aerospace technology. “What we’ve always lacked was an onboard sensor that was accurate and cost effective. The gyros and accelerometers we’ve experimented with in the past were mechanically complicated and prohibitively expensive to deploy and maintain. The Intelli-gel™ sensor was the technological breakthrough that we needed.”
The Intelli-gel™ sensor consists of a sealed composite case the approximate size of a package of cigarettes. It contains a gelatinous compound whose two primary ingredients are a photo-florescent seaweed extract combined with a synthetic polymer commonly used as a suspension agent in industrial lubricants. The developers discovered that when the compound is connected to a low voltage electrical current stream, the electrical conductivity of the compound changes in precise and predictable ways if the module is disturbed or “bumped” in any axis and it does so in a manner that is also measurable by the intensity and even the frequency of the disruption.
“Once we were able to graph the conductivity behavior of the product in a variety of turbulent environments, it was very easy for us to write the program models to interpret the sensor data and display it digitally.” Mr. Hollandaise continued.
For the sake of simplicity and standardization, the device will depict three levels of turbulence intensity, being, light, moderate, and severe. A corresponding letter character will be depicted in green, yellow, or red on controller’s screens on the ground. The depiction will also display in aircraft cockpits on instruments that currently display other aircraft in the vicinity. All depictions will be standardized and in real time.
The module is unaffected by the pressure or temperature extremes of commercial airliners, and has no moving parts or degradation properties.
“The module will be inexpensive to mass produce, and will likely outlive every aircraft it is installed on.” The scientist added.
The Intelli-gel™ module was originally developed by a privately held pharmaceutical research institute in Malaysia. Upon certification by regulatory authorities, the proprietary technology is tentatively scheduled to become licensed in the United States to the Allied Signal division of Honeywell (NYSE:HON) and Europe’s Thales Group (ex Thomson-HO) for production and manufacturing.
The technology is also expected to have applications in the automotive and high-speed rail industries for adaptive suspension control technologies and other industrial and maritime uses.
Newscape// NYC cpx, Apr. 01 2007
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